The Panic Room [2002] Movie Reviews on CinemaClock

Home Alone for adults. The first previews I saw for this had me expecting some truly terrifying cinematic experience. Then, when I learned David "Seven" Fincher directed it, my expectations were tripled. After seeing it, I would not call it scary, but I would call it the best freakin' movie I saw this year, edging out Mothman Prophecies. It is intensely suspenseful, frustrating, suffocating, while at the same time funny. The mood is perfect due to awesome camera work and lighting effects. With a couple of exceptions, the characters all act as real people would act in such a situation. At first, I thought the girl, Kristen Stewart, was a smart-alec brat who would get on my nerves the whole movie. Realistically, once things start to happen, her attitude is replaced by fear. She's a good actress. Jodie Foster is terrific. The three guys who played the criminals were great: Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto and Dwight Yoakam (who plays a FANTASTIC maniac, by the way) In the hands of a lesser director, this movie could have been a TV movie of the week. In the hands of David Fincher, it is a raw suspense masterpiece. Go see it.